Unwanted Child of War
by Deikage
Summary: She was an unwanted child that became an orphan, she was an unwanted child that became a ninja, she was an unwanted child that wanted to change the world and prove that even she could make it a better place. Eventual GaaraxOC
1. Chapter 1

It seemed every story started the same way with that generation, remembering the attack on the village by the nine tails, the remembrance of all those that had been lost in the battle to save the hidden leaf, and the few memories the orphans of the war had of that fateful night. That night changed the hidden leaf as no one would have thought possible, it taught them to take care of those around them, to protect their loved ones from fear, and to put a lot more faith in those who wore the headband depicting their loyalties to the village. The shinobi were the heroes of many a tale, including this one, and much as many it starts on the night of the attack on the hidden leaf, a dark shadow looming over the village, a terrible monster ready to attack. Despite the many ninja that littered the streets it still seemed an impossible task, more and more joined the fight and even more fell as the attack continued, the innocent were hidden away, kept safe and locked up but that didn't mean there were few innocent casualties in this war.

A small home to the east of the village shook, a mother and father quickly gathering supplies raring to go out into the battle, their headbands were tightened around their foreheads, weapon holsters quickly fastened around upper thighs as their one year old lay asleep in her crib to which the parents didn't even give a glance. To anyone who didn't know the couple, and the troubles they had gone through it would perhaps seem as if they were rushing to do their duties, simply wanting to protect everyone else in the village, but really it was all too different. On the day of the announcement that they were expecting again everyone gave them words of congratulations, everyone was so happy for the couple that deserved another child more than many, the loss of their first still hung heavy in their hearts, the memory of their son that went out on his very first mission never to return. They didn't even get to say goodbye to him before he left, their own duties pulling them from being able to bid him farewell, pulling them away from being able to hold their child close for one last time, and now in their hearts they knew this would be their replacement, this would fix what had been lost and right all wrongs. The larger the woman became the more the two prepared, the cot was ready, the nursery painted a nice shade of blue, everything was ready for the birth of their new son that had already been named after their first.

Questions arose at the name, people whispering about them in private, questioning if the couple were in fact okay or if this new child would bring back even more grief, but happiness faded eventually as more rumors spread, the way they heard the mother speak to her stomach, talking to it as if it were really her son in there, as if he had the same memories, the same life as they one they lost. They were careful, they refused to lose another child, almost never being seen outside the house, but in their own little world they had never been happier despite the judgement that went on all around them.

As fate would have it though, things did not happen quite as they had wanted. The cries of a woman filled their home, hands clasped together as she gave her last push, relieved smile on her sweaty face as the cries of her newborn now filled the room, the couple shared loving glances with one another and they looked to the foot of the bed awaiting their child. A medic stood there, a family friend, one of the few that had remained with them through the 9 months of pregnancy.

"Congratulations Mr and Mrs Iyana, it's a girl."

That single word brought on waves of shock, the couple looking to one another to question if they had both heard the same word leave the medics mouth, but as the bundle was handed over it proved to be no joke, they had heard correctly, and instead of their perfect little son, they now had a girl to deal with. Something that had brought about a bitterness in their hearts, a resentment to the child they had created, for 9 months had been spent wishing for their son to return home, and now they knew he never would again. They didn't coddle their child as many would, leaving her in the cot for large amounts of the time that they were home, only when the cries became too much was she lifted and tended to, before once again being laid back down, not a single ounce of love being sent their newborn daughters way.

The Iyana's didn't stop trying to conceive after that, desperate to have a boy in their lives that would fill in the hole in their heart, one that their daughter would never be able to fill. But too many times she had been told it wasn't possible, that Mrs Iyana would not be able to conceive again, something about her age and apparent difficulties her body had gone through with her most recent child, and once again the hate and hurt was turned into daggered eyes sent to the cot that rested beside their bed. Not only was she now not the son they craved, but she was the reason that their son would never be in their arms again. Some could see the resentment in the way they shut themselves off from the world, acting as if they had only just lost their son once again, rarely were they seen out with the child, a rumor or two even passed around that the child had in fact died, and all this was why the parents didn't take one last look at their child before they left, why they didn't try and hurry her off to a shelter to keep her safe, perhaps if the house was crushed it would save them years of having their mistake look them in the face.

When dawn broke the war was over, the Hokage had saved them all, but there were many lives lost on that night, and much destruction that would take many years to rebuild. Amongst the destruction a wail came out, a hungry child calling out for her feed amongst the remains of a tattered old house, when the child was plucked from the ruins they spoke of it like a miracle, as if she shouldn't have survived, frowns then coming to their faces when they realised that she was yet another orphan to be added to the list, another child of war needing to be taken care of. Amongst the many bodies lay her parents, death was quick for them, and not too long after they had in fact left their home had they died, perhaps it was a sick form of justice, an angel that could see their treatment and decided it was time for them to be punished.

It was from here that Moriko Iyana truly started her life, for the early years like the other youngsters they were watched closely, given temporary homes while they couldn't look out for themselves, but from the moment they could housing was arranged, numerous flats built to home those that had nowhere else to go, and it was here that she now resided, in a home she called her her own. It was also here that they were forgotten, the forgotten victims of a war, and Moriko herself, the unwanted child of war.

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A/N: This is a rewrite of a story I wrote some time back, I hope you enjoy it. I appreciate any reviews however I don't really accept criticism no matter the kind, I write for fun and generally things like that knock a lot of my inspiration off despite my ideas still being there.


	2. Chapter 2

Moriko followed the same path as many youngsters did in the village hidden in the leaf, she joined the academy at an early age, began to train herself as a ninja much as many of the village seemed to be filled with, each one of them going about it with own dream in mind, she had grown up around many others than were orphaned by the war, really they took care of each other until they found lives of their own outside of their little circle. The stories those who became ninja had opened up the eyes of the younger few, making them grin and hope to be like the orphans that came before them. Every so often some of them would leave to another village, move in with a long lost relative or simple choose than becoming a ninja was not in the stars for them, but even as most of the other orphans drifted away, the support seemed to continue and feed on the dreams to others. The support system was needed for many of them, the ones that could somewhat remember that night often screamed in the dark, the older few rushing to provide them comfort, though in time the place remained quiet, quite simply they had all grown up, they had all found their own way of dealing with what happened.

This block of homes was where Moriko's dream had started, the tender age of 4, a doll torn from her arms by an older child only to be plucked away by a young ninja, they offered her a grin, a rustle of the hair to which she gave a small smile, holding her treasured doll to her chest. To a child small and young it meant the world to her, it gave her someone to look up to, something to achieve, and even though she couldn't recall seeing him ever again he seemed like a knight in her mind, he was her first reason to start her training.

At the age of 8 she was average in her class, teachers always had their favourites, they shouldn't, but they did and Moriko wasn't one of them, wasn't someone who was noticed , she pretty much went under the radar for a long time, even to her peers she was more of a shadow that lingered in the background, none of them spoke to her, none of them invited her to join in with their games. The alone time was good for her at this age, she sat with her books, spent more time training, her aim was to get better, to get noticed, for now that was something a little more achievable.

It was really only in the two years before Moriko received her headband that she actually seemed to make an improvement, as if all the years of hard work had finally paid off. Slowly her written grades came in the top 5%, slowly in spars she began to win against her comrades, and slowly more people seemed to talk to her like she truly was one of them. It made her happy to walk into class and find someone asking for her to sit with them, for people a little older than her to actually know her name, but she still wasn't at the top yet and that continued to infuriate her to no end. Her sensei reminded her that she was doing well for her age, reminded her of how far she had come in such a short space of time, but green eyes would glance and white's of the Hyuga and feel as if she was still inferior in every way compared to him. The child in her dreamed of being acknowledged by the top in her class, but he didn't keep friends, he didn't even seem to talk to anyone, and the more friends she seemed to gain, the more he seemed disgusted with her.

Perhaps that was the main flaw that stayed with her, seeking such recognition when it reality it shouldn't have mattered, he was just another child in her class, there was always going to be someone better, but for the time while she was still young it remained healthy, it gave her the drive that brought her to continue training on her own each night, that drove her to push herself to keep doing better. But eyes that watched her, even though she felt forgotten could see how sour such a thing could turn if it wasn't corrected at the appropriate time.

The morning they would be split into teams felt like any other, the young ninja crawled from her bed, grabbing breakfast to go as she made her way towards the training grounds, she would arrive there an hour before she was due to start and she would train, today she would use kunai, aiming to get a perfect hit on each of the targets that surrounded her. As per every morning she always struggled with the last target, each one would seem to be doing straight to her destination and then she would turn and see that one that had missed it's mark. As usual a grumble slipped from her lips, glaring at the kunai as if she were telling it off for not hitting the target. A few more tries and she would be no closer, but had to leave for class, the usual buzz coming from behind the door before she stepped through it.

"Moriko?!" the voice came from another female ninja, Tenten, one of the friends she had made over the years she had spent in the academy, and already a smile was at her lips, seating herself beside so the two could chatter until their sensei arrived. "Can you believe we're getting our teams today? They'd be stupid not to place us together, we'd work together perfectly as a team."

"No matter what team we end up in we both have to do our best, even if we're not together we will always be comrades Tenten," Moriko replied, fingers carefully twisting some hairs around them. "Besides, the whole idea is to show that we can work with other people, we're not showing much if we already came to training with a close bond."

Tenten looked as if she would speak again before their sensei stepped into the room and the hum quietened down to the odd whisper, everyone was slightly nervous, apprehensive, this was after all going to be the teams that they would spend a large amount of their lives with over the coming years and it was the day everyone in academy had been looking forward to.

"Now you all know what today is, today is the day you will join your teams, three of you, and your new sensei that will form a four man squad which every team is made of. These teams are made up of different abilities, pairing up strength with weakness to form the best possible teams to cover missions you will be undertaking, many of you won't be happy, you won't be working alongside your best friend anymore, you won't be seeing the familiar faces of the past years so often, but this is your first step into becoming a real ninja and it isn't about fun and games."

The blunt words of their sensei caused a few people to shake a little, it was a little slice of reality for those that thought this was going to be an easy path to take, but they needed to hear it, they needed to know what they were going into and the world after academy wasn't going to be quite as friendly as they perhaps pictured in their minds.

"Onto the teams, our first team will be Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee and Tenten."

The first list of names caused Tenten to shift a little and frown, despite the little monologue they had been given she had still been hopeful that she would have ended up in the same team as her friend, but alongside the two others she rose, a small smile and wave given to Moriko before disappearing out the door she had come in from to go and meet her new sensei. Part of her wanted to have been in that team, though not for the sake of being with her friend, but for being given the chance to work with the best in their class, despite all the years that had passed Moriko hadn't gotten any closer to gaining any form of recognition from the Hyuga, in fact she swore he didn't really even know her name, he'd never spoken it, at least not that she knew anyway.

"Our second team, Kai Amoucha, Shinja Amoucha and Moriko Iyana."

Moriko was broken from her thoughts upon hearing the next names called, her eyes honing in on the twins that were in their class. She was surprised that the two weren't being split up, though she supposed they differed in so many ways that perhaps skill wise it made sense, but their smiling faces brought a frown to her own lips, it was hard to imagine working with those two efficiently, though honestly she knew very little about them. The two of them had been inseparable for as long as she had known them, she wasn't even sure they had any other friends, spending most of their time together and not opening themselves up to anyone had it's disadvantages also, but it seemed they weren't too bothered by that.

Rising up Moriko took the slip of paper from their sensei, eyes glancing at their meeting point before turning to her team.

"Roof of the academy it says here." Her words were followed by a small nod by the slightly taller of the two, long hair sweeping down his back and a somewhat shy glance that made her brow rise a little, but the smaller twin grabbed the others hand, tugging him off leaving Moriko to trail slightly behind them, head shaking as she followed their lead to the rooftop.

Their sensei was stood there, foot tapping as if they had shown up late to meeting him, but at a glance Moriko could recognise the man right way. His eyes were identical to Neji's which meant that their sensei was also a Hyuga, his eyes immediately upon them sending a shiver through his three students as if they were being judged almost immediately by the taller man.

"Sit," he instructed, one that was followed by the three genin taking a seat and looking up at their sensei. "I am Hiroshi Hyuuga, or to you three from this moment on, Hyuuga-Sensei, I would like the three of you to give me a mini introduction to yourselves, keep it short."

The three genin looked amongst one another to figure who was going to go first before the first of the twins spoke up, clearly the more dominant of the two as far as Moriko could guess.

"I am Shinja Amoucha, i'm best with ranged attacks and I suppose my favourite thing is spending time with Kai."

Hiroshi didn't seem too amused by the closeness of the twins, or the idea of having twins in a single team to begin with, if in a sticky situation he could quite imagine they would look out for each other before someone else, though he supposed he would give them the chance to prove him wrong if they could. His eyes were quick to travel to the next of the twins, one who avoided his eyes and kept his head down as he spoke.

"I'm Kai Amoucha, i'm best with healing a-and my favourite thing is the same as my brother."

A medical nin was always useful in a team, but once again that stupid attachment made Hiroshi unsure about if this team would even work together, surely there was some rule in place that forbade this kind of thing from happening, though perhaps he would have to bring it up with the Hokage to be sure of it. Lastly his eyes moved onto the only female in their team, her green eyes standing out the most to him which eyes bored into awaiting her own addition to the introductions

"Moriko Iyana, close combat, training."

Blunt and to the point. Someone Hiroshi was happy with, he supposed many of the other teams would spend a longer time getting to know one another, but that simply wasn't his way, it wasn't much of a surprise that not many teams stayed with the Hyuuga long, he pushed his students, put them in their place and had an air of pride constantly around him, but perhaps each time he took a team he had hope that they would be the ones that would remain permanent.

"Noon I want you to meet me on the training field, there we will start your first test and see just how good you three are, and if you fail you'll be going right back to academy."

The words caused Moriko to pause in thought, it seemed the same thoughts were going through the minds of her comrades, none of them had expected another test, they thought that this was it, they would be a team together and work at things as they go, but now it seemed that they were going to have to show themselves from the very start, prove that they were worth their sensei's time from the get go. Clenching her fist Moriko assured herself that they were going to pass, that there was no chance they were going to fail right now when she could almost taste her future success', she just hoped her team was as determined as she was.


	3. Chapter 3

After Hyuuga-sensei had left she had considered asking her new teammates if they wanted to join her for lunch, however the two of them were already on the retreat, talking busily amongst themselves as if Moriko didn't even exist, something that she could only roll her eyes at as she left to go get herself some food before they were due to train. As she walked she spotted many of the other new genin teams enjoying their lunches, some of them already laughing and seemingly getting along just great, maybe she should have known it was too much to ask for her own team to behave in such a way, but she shrugged it off, heading back towards her apartment to eat in order to save on money. Those who were orphaned and were forced to live alone were given an allowance, their homes were paid for and all they needed was clothes, food and supplies, the moment they started missions however that would all change and she knew it. From that moment on she would make her own money, no longer a drain on the villages resources, and surely Konoha had felt a pinch after the war, but now it would be lessening, only a few non genin orphans remained and soon there would be no more money going to those that suffered from the war.

Some seemed sad when they spoke of it, the great tragedy that almost destroyed the entire village, but Moriko didn't seem to feel anything, perhaps she should have been upset at the loss of her parents, but she had nothing to remember them by, no pictures, no money, nothing, the only thing they left her was a name, and that they didn't even have a plan set out for her. When she was younger it made her angry, often taking it out on trees during her training, but now she could keep a cool head on the matter, why be angry over people she had never truly met? But still there were questions that burned in her mind, ones that only her departed family could answer.

With noodles now steaming before her, she ate in silence, fingers running over the words on her current book as she reread the last page from the night before, she frequently made visits to the library, when she had first gone at a younger age a nice woman had suggested many fictional stories to her, ones that were mostly pictures of brightly drawn character smiling at her. It didn't take long for the librarian to realise that this wasn't in her interests, instead she took to reading books about the village, about the families that lived that, the four great noble clans and all those that travelled to the village in later years. She had read the sections on the Hyuga family many times now, but knowing that her sensei was a part of that clan made her want to know more.

Granted there wasn't too much to learn regarding many of the larger clans in the Leaf, they all kept their secrets locked away in their compounds so that sticky hands couldn't get hold of them and use their secrets against them, it was understandable, but also frustrating for someone that just wanted to know all the information she could. With a sigh she reread over the words on the page one final time before snapping it shut, washing up the bowl she had just used, settling it to one side to allow it to dry before ensuring she had everything she had thought she would need for their sensei's little test. She knew he probably wouldn't use his whole strength against them if it was a spar, but that didn't mean she wouldn't go as far as she could to prove that she was worth taking on as a student, she wanted to be acknowledged by her sensei greatly, perhaps even wanted to be seen as better than her two teammates.

With 15 minutes to go she left her home, walking slowly towards the training grounds so she could take in the beauty of Konoha. She was glad to have been born there, where there was greenery, flowers, cool breezes on a warm day, but also to have the large storms that she would watch at night causing her heart to thud with each crash. She loved her home, wanted to protect it and she couldn't imagine being anywhere else, over the years people had been good to her, but she knew the same couldn't be said for everyone, her years growing up were uneventful, there were always bullies, but that was far behind her, a distant memory of girls tugging on hair and boys calling names. That was just what children did.

Arriving at the training ground she found herself stood in an awkward silence, only herself and the teams Sensei currently there as of yet, and the moment the twins began to become late she could almost feel the annoyance seeping from his skin. Moriko knew better than to say anything to the other, and took note never to be late for any training they had, assuming they beat his test, so she simply stood up straight, finding a spot on a tree to stare at until she heard the clatter of hurried feet, heavy breaths soon catching up, it made her finally move her gaze away, watching as one twin tugged the other in a hurry, immediately she knew it was Shinja, it was the easiest way to tell them apart, their personalities.

"S-Sorry were late," the pair got out in unison only for them both to receive an icy stare from their sensei. They could have sworn they saw a vein pulsing on his temple in annoyance before he stepped in front of the group, face once again a blank canvas, white eyes glancing between the three of them.

"In order to work as a team we need to find out one another's strengths and weakness', not only for each individual, but for how we work together from this point on. So I can evaluate this we will have a little test," with his words he held up three flowers in his hand showing them to his students. "You need to take these flowers from me without causing any damage to them, no fallen petals, no broken stems, exactly as they are. If you manage to take these from me, then perhaps I will consider not sending you back to the academy."

Moriko looked at the flowers in question, how dainty and fragile they were, they could so easily be crushed, so easily be de-petalled and it made the task seem even harder than she had imagined. To her side the twins were already whispering together and she was trying her best to listen into their plan of attack and somehow find a way to be a part of it. Naturally none of this went unnoticed and to their sensei, the test had already begun. Hiroshi was watching them all silently, taking in the fact that Shinja was trying to pull Kai away from actually working as a team, preferring it to be the two of them against the world, Kai was however sending small little glances to Moriko, as if a strategy was already in his mind but his twins words were overpowering his own thoughts and movements. Then there was Moriko herself, someone who was trying to listen into the other pairs conversation, though he was surprised she didn't appear outwardly annoyed with the twins. For the moment he had seen enough, it was time for it to truly begin, though he was sure this wouldn't last long.

"Now then, let's begin."

With those words the twins were gone, leaving Moriko to stand there which earned a grumble from her lips before she too leapt into the trees, the best place for her to be if she was going to spot those damn siblings and figure out what exactly their plan would be. Moriko was of course devising her own plan, using the twins as a distraction could always work, they could take on the brunt of the attack leaving her to be able to grab the flowers from right under his nose. It was ideal if it weren't for the sudden yell that came from below, Shinja had leapt into action already, kunai flying from his hand in varied directions, one of them heading straight for her which she dodged to avoid, but realised that her position had now been revealed and it was better for her to have to join Shinja in a full frontal attack than to try and conceal herself again.

"What were you thinking?! You could have hit me!"

"Maybe you should have picked a better hiding spot!"

Hiroshi was watching the two of them bicker in silence, awaiting the two of them to finally realise that they should have been concentrating on him and not one another, but with a quick shove to Moriko from Shinja he was back to tackling the older twins weapon based attacks.

Moriko saw a chance took Hiroshi from behind, a low sweep given which was easily avoided before her hands quickly clasped together. Kicking up hard from the ground her hands quickly formed seals before her arms lunged forward.

"Fire style: flaming bullets!"

From her hands a scatter of flaming balls headed straight towards the Hyuuga, a grin at her lips before in a second he was gone from the position. This whole time she had actually been going for a clone, something that made her grit her teeth together hard, grinding them together as she landed on the floor, quick to look around the area to figure out just where exactly she had gone wrong, but one again it seemed that Shinja was ready to go at her again, yells sounding from his lips as he stormed over to her only to be frozen when a sharp cry fluttered from behind them.

"This is your fault."

Shinja didn't wait for Moriko, leaping off to the sound of the cry to find Kai in the strong clutch of their sensei, a weapon swiftly thrown at him pinning him to the tree he was near and when Moriko finally arrived a the scene she knew that there was nothing of any good that she could do to try and free her teammates and get the situation back on track and so stood down.

"Disappointing, I think i've seen all I needed."

His words were stunning, causing the three students to frown at themselves as Kai was placed back on the floor who quickly hurried to remove the kunai that was pinning his brother before once again gathering around their Sensei waiting for the words that would inevitably be spoken. Moriko wasn't even too sure if she wanted to hear how badly they had done, she'd worked so hard to get to that point and now it was as if she was brand new at this all over again, just because of one stupid team.

"Shinja, you didn't await your team when launching an attack, believing too highly that you could take me on solo relying on the fact that Kai would be waiting in the wings to heal you if you needed it, you didn't focus on your attack which could have caused harm to a teammate, had it been a client they wouldn't have been able to dodge your attack leaving them defenseless and injured because of your actions. Kai, your inability to stand up to your brother and your acceptance to allow him to call the shots despite the fact that you had a plan in mind made you a sitting target, if there were multiple enemies you would have been taken down with ease, despite being a medic you need to rely on your basic skills and not your brother to come to your aid all the time. Moriko, you were more than happy to allow your team to be a distraction, risking them to get a job done, and using a jutsu like that could have easily burnt the flowers to a crisp, you aren't here to prove your strength to me, you are here to show me how you can work as a team to ensure a goal is met, and you could have ruined all your teams chances with you."

The words brought her to swallow hard, she wasn't good at taking criticism, even if it was for the best and would make her stronger, even if there was advise in those words it caused her fingers to curl inwards, nails digging into the palm of her hands as she keep her eyes on his. She didn't want to look down, she didn't want to accept defeat, she wanted another chance to prove herself, to prove that she could do better.

"You will have one last chance to take the three flowers from me, show me that you have learnt from my words, show me that you are worth my time."

Moriko gave a nod, surprised to turn and see Kai staring right at her giving her a small nod before glancing at the bush a little behind them, in a split second the three genin leapt behind it it, a small triangle created as the three discussed just how exactly they were going to get this done and not get sent back to the academy.

"M-Moriko...d-do you think you could use that jutsu again?" Kai's voice spoke out.

"Didn't you hear what sensei said, I could burn the flowers to a crisp and kill our chances again," Moriko muttered, though she did wonder if perhaps that was the plan, maybe they wanted to send her back to academy.

"N-No, just use it close to him, he will move to dodge it, and when he moves i-i'll be there waiting, his attention will be on me meaning Shinja can come from behind and t-take them."

Moriko and Shinja blinked at the plan, looking at one another before sharing a grin, though Kai at a glance could be seen as the weakest of the group, it also seemed that he was the most observant and a better strategist than perhaps any of them would have realised until that moment, sure there was a chance that it could fall through, but it seemed to be their best shot at that moment.

Getting into position Moriko leapt from her hiding place again, her hands moving fast before the familiar balls of fire hit the ground in front of their sensei, as they had expected he moved to avoid being too close to the heated flames, eyes judging the girl as if she perhaps was too hard headed to learn anything from his previous words. A shift from behind him however caused him to move his gaze to Kai, the boy was stood with a kunai in hand ready to attack and as he leapt a hand appeared over his shoulder to take the flowers from him, it brought a slight smirk to their sensei's lips, but quickly Shinja's wrist was grabbed, quickly tossing one twin onto the other before he rose a hand up to bring their test to an end.

He could make out the disappointment on all three faces as they came back together again, but his own lips remained in their own smirk. It had only taken one word from him for them to make some attempt at working together as a team, some would take years of yelling before they would even try and work with one another, and it seemed something so simple was enough for him.

"I am happy to tell you that you have all passed my little test, I now know what we will work on and how to tailor your training to suit all three of you to assure that you become the best team out of any this year, this is only the beginning and I don't want you to lose hope just yet. But a warning from me, if you were to continue as you are and ignore what I teach you, the three of you will die."

Now the three of them were wide eyed, staring at the man before them trying to judge if he was joking or not, but it seemed he wasn't and it seemed to be one hell of a wakeup call as they looked amongst each other, the twins giving a small nod before both catching Moriko's eye.

"You may not have taken the flowers from me, but I didn't expect you to be able to in the first place, I wanted to see if after a failure you could make an attempt to listen and play to the advantages you already know one another to have. I cannot say that it was perfect, but I can see how you tried, that you listened to the quietest and allowed the fiercest to be the bait. For now though you all need to go home and rest, the real training will start tomorrow, and I won't be going easy on you."

With those words their sensei was gone, leaving his three students alone on the training grounds once again in silence.

"H-Hey Moriko, Shinja and I were going to get something to eat, would you like to join us?" The soft words of Kai surprised her, blinking as if to check if she'd heard those words correctly, but it seemed that Kai was willing to give her a chance, she of course didn't miss the grumble that escaped Shinja but with a glance from Kai he too gave a nod at his new teammate.

It was strange how one meal could change things, how their common enjoyment of the same food could bring about a conversation that would spread to learning a little more about what each of them were interested in. Shinja spoke of wanting to create his own weapons one day, for them to be admired and sought after by many ninja around while Kai stammered about how he wanted to be out on the front line of war, aiding ninja that protected their village and healing them up to perfect health. Moriko spoke fondly of her determination to be the best, of how she want to rise up through the ranks to protect Konoha at any cost, they were different, anyone could see that, but as they paid for their meal Kai offered up a pinky, quickly locked by his teammates they made one another promise, a promise that they would make their dreams come true, that they would make their sensei truly value them and see them one day as equal. Soon after they went their separate ways, but a pair of white eyes had been watching them, a small smile at his lips.

"Perhaps you won't be a useless team after all."


	4. Chapter 4

Time flew by quickly from that day, their days of training had been as expected, tough and strenuous, but sure enough they were finally starting to see some results for all the hard work they had been putting in. They were each picking up on how one another worked, the best placements for each team member to be in a fight and though they were baby steps in the grand scheme of things they were proud of what they had accomplished so far. Somethings would however never change, Shinja would still look after Kai more than Moriko, Kai would still hesitate in a fight and Moriko would still be rash with her decisions, thinking that she was better than the other two. But it seemed it was enough progress for the team to be able to start taking on missions, low ranked ones of course and ones that didn't need them to leave the village, but it was a start.

Kai also seemed relieved to not be leaving the village just yet, though his observation skills were great he still didn't think himself good enough to actually be going out into the unknown where the prospect of danger was very real. Shinja was the complete opposite, he yelled loudly about how unfair it was that they weren't already going out to help a princess or take down a group of elite assassins, in fact this was now commonly brought up at their daily lunches which they now started to share together each day. Every time this was brought up Moriko would shoot him down leaving Kai to sit back and watch with a frown as they both partook in another heated argument with each other.

"I'm telling you, tomorrow we're going to be helping a damsel in distress!"

"We'll probably be weeding an old mans garden you idiot."

"Who are you calling idiot, idiot!"

"Hm...you are terrible at comebacks..."

"How about you shut up! Tomorrow i'll be proven right!"

Kai sighed at them both, rubbing his ear that Shinja had been shouting down. His twin always became wound up like that, while Moriko sat staring at him completely unaffected by it all which only seemed to annoy Shinja even more. At times like this Kai wished he could just break them away from their topic, but the few times he had tried proved fruitless and would only cause the pair to form another argument on yet another topic. Really he was happy for the times when Shinja would sit there sulking and Moriko would quietly eat her food, at least then Kai could hear himself think.

The morning after the argument the team arrived at the Hokage's office, eyes on the old man that was seated across from them as he explained their first ever mission to them. Much to Shinja's dismay Moriko had been correct about how dull their first mission was going to be, but at least he managed to hold of him complains while before the Hokage.

For their first mission they would be helping to find a woman's pearls, she believed she'd lost them between her home and the village gate which left them a large part of the village of which to search. She did often wonder why Ninja were dragged into such things, made to take care of menial tasks that in reality anyone could have done, but much like her team she managed to remain silent until the team of four filed from the room.

"Told you there would be no damsel in distress," Moriko stated.

"Oh shut up miss perfect!"

"That is enough!" Hiroshi's voice had risen at that, though he had become accustomed to the way his team was it didn't mean he would taken them acting that way once a mission had begun. There was a time and a place for everything as far as he was concerned and this was neither. "Once a mission starts you leave your childish spats where they are, a mission needs your attention, your undivided attention whether it is finding lost pearls or not."

His words brought silence amongst his students, Shinja still appearing grumpy and unhappy with Moriko, Moriko appeared disappointed in herself with her eyes now glued to the floor.

"Now then, for a simple mission such a this I expect the three of you to take a lead, I will follow behind, but I want the three of you to be the most active on this mission, show me you can take care of a 'simple' mission and perhaps we can move our way up the ranks."

Nods followed his words and the team were quick to place earpieces in their ears and discuss how much ground each of them would cover before disappearing off to their respective searching grounds. Around two hours passed before anything sounded over the earpiece, they had each completely covered their ground twice now.

"Any signs of the missing pearls?" The voice was clearly their sensei.

"Negative."

"Nothing here."

"S-Same here."

They then agreed for the team to group back up, it seemed their first strategy hadn't quite worked as they thought but when it came to deciding on a new plan Shinja and Moriko were the ones to voice up, each one wanting their plan to be heard which brought voices to once again raise and Kai to sigh and hang his head. From day one the two of them had butted heads, and Shinja seemed to take a lot more personally than Moriko did who didn't ever seem to be affected, no matter the words that came from the twin. Shinja had also gotten into the habit of puffing his chest out, trying to look intimidating which of course didn't work on their female teammate who simply rose a brow and stared at him like an idiot, which though Kai would never voice it, he did look a little stupid like that.

"W-We could always talk to the lady you know, s-see if she has any clues," Kai suggested quietly and the pair before him paused, almost as if they hadn't thought about that even though it was the obvious idea. It made the two of them finally silence, wandering to Kai to begin making their way back to where they had started, but the fact that they had listened made his cheeks turn a little red, a small smile at his lips. Kai thought him being the weakest, quietest and most reserved of the group would mean that even sensible offerings from him would have been ignored, but it just showed that they were in fact finally getting somewhere when it came to their teamwork, they were small steps, but it warmed Kai's heart to think about.

All the way though academy Kai had allowed his brother to take the lead in everything they did, it wasn't that he wanted to sit back and not do the work, but that it was easier to stay in Shinja's shadow and remain less in the spotlight, it had become Kai's comfort zone many years ago, back when he had been teased when they younger for his long apparently girly hair. Shinja had come to his rescue and from then on remained as a bodyguard to him no matter what, and Shinja didn't ever complain about this or trying and push his brother into the spotlight a little, if anything it filled him with a little more pride, made him feel like he was an intimidating strong character that could scare off a storm if he shouted loud enough.

Despite the small friendships forming Moriko still preferred to walk a little slower behind the twins, eyes on the trees and scenery around her as she pondered what they could do if the woman who owned the pearls didn't know where they could start looking. Perhaps the woman had left it at home, or perhaps sold them and completely forgotten about it, there were a large number of possibilities at that moment.

However, as it turned out the woman's pearls had been in her handbag all along, something that made Moriko twitch a little in annoyance, but they still got paid for it and had officially completed their first mission. Despite flaws in what they had done their sensei still seemed somewhat pleased with them, though with a Hyuuga it was hard to tell. Despite success though Moriko was disappointed, she had overlooked something so simple and obvious, she could do much better than that and all she wanted to do was prove it. The other two didn't seem to feel anything like she did though, Shinja had an arm around his twin grinning at how well he had done, a sense of pride and glee that their first mission had gone so 'well'.

Many other missions were similar to that, help a woman with her shopping, find a lost shoe, they began to lose count now of the missions they had undertaken, but with each mission each one of them hungry for something more. Tenten already had several missions which lead her past the village gates, now bragging about new skills she had, how competent her team was etc. etc. Moriko tried not to be bitter about her friend, but it still twinged inside her and all she could do was silently hope that the next mission was the one she had been waiting for all along, she kept a smile forced on her lips as Tenten spoke on and on for a while before her friend blinked and finally silenced.

"How about your team? How are you doing?"

"Hm...I wish I could say we were having the same success..." Moriko muttered her words but decided against saying anything else, she didn't really want the world thinking their team was useless, but in her mind she still didn't see how she could be placed with the twins, or even how the twins had graduated from academy anyway.

Graduation had been a rather sombre affair, a room littered with students and parents, applauds sounding from the parent when their child stepped to the front to receive their scrolls. When Moriko rose there was an eerie silence, broken by Lee who called out to her and clapped enthusiastically for her, soon to be joined by a few of her other classmates, but by the time the event was over she was forced to watch the parents and their children as they discussed their celebrations, something Moriko knew she wouldn't have.

It was rare for her to become bitter about her parentless life, the fact of having no family often not affecting her mind and yet that day it came speeding at her like a kunai, ready to pierce her heart. It was that night that she trained harder than ever, trying to get rid of the thoughts that plagued her mind, but in reality she hadn't gotten rid of them, just shoved them further back into her mind, not realising that one day she would evidently have to face it.

After weeks of the same missions, Moriko hoped that today was going to be the day that they would get something a little better than usual.

For once luck was in her side as the three students stood before their sensei, for once they weren't looking after Mr fluffy the cat, they weren't weeding the garden of an overbearing man, they were going on a real mission. As he explained to the team they were being tasked with delivering documents for the next set of Chunin exams, their mission taking them to the hidden stone village, to which Shinja looked blankly at him and scratched his head.

"Where now?"

Shinja ignored the looks of the rest of his team, clearly they were all disappointed that he didn't even know where the other villages were, but their Sensei gave a slight cough bringing all attention back onto him again as he continued his explanation.

"This is a C ranked mission, a little different from what you've been doing so far, I need you to pack tonight only essentials for the trip and we will leave as the sun rises tomorrow morning. Since it's a classified document I will keep in in my hands throughout the mission, think of yourselves as the documents escourts."

"Why does a document need escourts in the first place?" Shinja blurted out.

"Information regarding the exams taken for Chunin's is kept secret until the day of the exams themselves, this information is for the eyes of officials only and that could mean a few people will want to take a peek at it before it arrives. Granted we aren't expecting any real trouble on this mission, hence it's rank, but we cannot rule anything out. Now Team Hyuuga, you are dismissed."

"Did he just call us Team Hyuuga?"

Moriko rolled her eyes at Shinja's comment.

"Of course he did, they're full of pride and love to have their name on things. Besides, you remember the way Neji was in academy."

Her comment earned a small nod from her team, but they didn't push it any further with her. It wasn't exactly the first time they heard his name brought up, both of them knowing that in Moriko's mind he was her rival, he was the one person she was desperate to show up and beat at anything, a mini competition that only existed in her own mind. In fact, it wasn't only them that had noticed, all the way through academy people had spotted how Moriko tried to get Neji's attention, how she tried to do better than him, how she wanted this status that Neji wasn't going to allow her to have. In fact many believed the Hyuga knew all about what Moriko was doing and purposely acted as if she wasn't there, not something she had appreciated in the slightest.

The three of them trailed off together at first before parting ways at the twins left for their family home and Moriko left for her small flat, once again noodles were on the menu and as she let them sit she packed her rucksack for the following day. Medicine, sleeping bag, weapons, scrolls and a book just in case she had any time to read. She was excited for the mission, excited to finally step out the gates and see what the rest of the world was like outside of the Leaf, she had seen pictures of such places, many of them burned into her memory so that she knew what she was aiming for. This was her next step to truly achieving her dream and it sent a strange buzz through her body, skin tingling slightly, lips curling upwards a little, she was prepared to do whatever she needed to make the next days mission a success, which included for the first time, an early night.


End file.
